Barbara Heise - Search for Homes for Sale in St. Louis

Comparison of St. Louis Mo with National Statistics

According to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors "housing affordability conditions improved in most metropolitan areas from softer existing-home prices and record low mortgage interest rates in the fourth quarter, with rising sales and lower inventory creating more balanced conditions".

My article on bathroom facelifts has me focused on bathrooms now and since I am becoming a technology freak, I couldn't pass up sharing this article with you from Houselogic entitled 3 Hot Trends for Bathroom Remodeling in 2012 by Jamie Goldberg.

The three trends she lists are:

1. Conservation rules that will be popping up as regulations which will affect your remodel plans
2. New technology which involves iPhones, high-tech toilets (a bun warmer? or a toilet seat night light?), television screens in your medicine cabinet, etc
3. New safety features in showers, tubs and flooring

(Wow! a toilet with a remote control?!)

It all sounds like some creativity and fun can be had in our smallest and most essential room in the house.

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Value Added = Minor Bathroom Makeover

According to the Cost vs Value Report 2010-11, the cost of an average bathroom remodel is $18163 in St. Louis and the recapture is 63%. However, there are many small touches that are very inexpensive that can make your bathroom take on a new and current look. Sometimes with just a couple of hundred dollars and a little elbow grease, a weekend do-it-yourself project can produce a 100% return on your dollar.

In this bathroom, my client spent a Saturday adding a glass tile back splash and a glass shelf. This little bit of "extra" put the finishing touches on this lower level bathroom.

According to Kristi at Addicted 2 Decorating, this project got a little more intense than she would have liked but it was inexpensive and gave the bathroom a whole new look. Click on the link for the step by step. She made the brass go away with oil-rubbed bronze.

Here is something I did to my bathroom. This wooden cabinet look was going to cost over $1500 in all the supply catalogues. I found this old sewing machine cabinet in a pile of junk at an estate sale and paid $100 for it, the sink was $70, the glass counter was approx $300. The glass could easily be switched to a granite.

These are just a few samples of inexpensive bathroom projects that can make a difference in your sale. Sometimes it is just changing the shower curtain and towels, or just painting. Maybe it's as simple as a new mirror. Here is an article from Small Bathroom Makeovers that has more interesting and inexpensive ideas.

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Kitchens are still a selling point

The kitchens are still important to a buyer. However, data is showing that major kitchen remodels in St. Louis MO in 2010-2011 have a return just a little over 70% in midrange properties and over 76% return on minor kitchen remodels. According to Remodelling Cost vs Value 2010-2011, the average cost for a major kitchen remodel was over $62000 and $23000 for a minor remodel (St. Louis). Here are some makeovers that are in the under $23000 category that could make a difference between a sale or sitting on the market and also give a return on the investment.

Maria's Smart Kitchen Facelift in The Kitchn. This inexpensive minor remodel required some elbow grease from the owner but it sure made a difference.

Maria "modified the existing upper cabinets to fit in a working range hood, modified the lower cabinets to get rid of the 4-inch gap on either side of the oven, replaced the floor with a vinyl tile, built new cabinets around the fridge, installed a bi-fold door for the pantry, installed a dishwasher, new oven and hood range, new kitchen faucet, new counters, painted the walls and cabinets and my favourite aesthetic piece — the kitchen backsplash."

Daniel and Max were in need of additional counters and storage and came up with a solution that was accomplished in a couple of days with a sleek, utilitarian, do-it-yourself and inexpensive. It is inspirational for those of us on a budget. Here is their story and the step by step process.

Daniel says "It holds a ton, gives us five (FIVE!!!) extra feet of counter space that we didn’t have before (we had been operating off four feet, which makes for some tricky cooking)...

In one of the houses we sold this year, the kitchen cabinets were the 70's white formica with oak trim (sorry we had to borrow the before picture from another house):The sellers painted the oak trim on the white formica cabinets, changed the back splash and the counter to granite and transformed a dated kitchen to this look with a modest outlay of cash (new knobs/handles, painted trim, new counter).

These kitchen facelifts give hope that a transformation can be done on a budget. In addition to the value added to the price, sometimes the new look is the difference between selling or not selling.

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What Home Improvements Are a Good Investment